Onex vs. Altas in Canada

Seems like these are the only shops in Canada that compete with US UMM firms and want to get more info on both for associate roles in Toronto. Some initial thoughts:

Onex:

- Larger fund, public co, better brand name 

- Established associate program with chance to work on large deals like West Jet 

- Downsides are performance issues + not growing fund size, and seems like firm is hiring a lot more in NY/London instead of Toronto 

Altas:

- Growing fast ($1B to $3B to $5B fund size in the span of ~5y)

- Probably easier to move up since there are less mid-level people than Onex

- Better culture than Onex 

- Downsides are limited brand name and less exit optionality as an associate, and heard pay is below street 

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Just some thoughts on what you have already posted.

Onex:

Performance: Not sure they really have performance issues. Gross MOC's are around 2.0x on their funds, with fund V being down probably due to West Jet exposure. That should recover post-pandemic.

Mobility: Upwards mobility is actually quite good at Onex, they don't require MBAs and will promote internally if you perform.

Altas:

Mobility: Would disagree with you here. Last time I checked their team page there was only 1 person promoted past Associate to mid level, rest are all in corp dev now. 

 

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